Car-brake.



5 O 9 1 8 l, R P A D E T N E T .A P

m. L P. P B P W TH.

UAR BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED AUGA, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W/TNESSES:

No. 787,691. PATENTED APR. 18, 1905.

' J. W. PEPPLE.

GAR BRAKE.

I APPIQIUATION FILED AUG. 4, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 787,691. PATENTED APR. 18,1905. J. W. PEPPLE.

GAR BRAKE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUGA, 1904.

s SHEETS-SHEEN.

W/T/YESSES: IIVVE/VTOR w No. 787,69i.

UNITED STATES Patented April is, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W'. PEPPLE, OF HILLSBORO, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PEPPLE BRAKECOMPANY, OF HILLSBORO, TEXAS, A CORPORATION.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,691, dated April18, 1905.

' Application filed August 4, 1904. Serial No. 219,424.

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN WV. PEPPLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hillsboro, in the county of Hill, in the State of Texas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Brakes; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

, My invention relates to improvements in car-brakes.

It is well known that a large proportion of railway-wrecks,particularlyof freight-trains, is caused by the dropping of one end of the heavybrake-beams on which the brake-shoes are mounted.

One of the primary objects of my present invention is to provide asimple, efficient, and reliable car-brake inwhich the objectionable anddangerous brake-beam is eliminated by the employment of lightquick-acting brakelevers.

It is also well known that when an engineer applies the air-brakes toalong train of cars the same amount of braking power is unavoidablyapplied to the empty cars as to the loaded and heavier cars of thetrain, therebycausing the wheels of the empty cars to slide on the railswhen the friction of the brake is sufiicient to overcome the traction ofthe wheels, thereby ruining the wheels by forming flat places on thetread thereof.

Another object, therefore, of my invention is to provide a car-brakemechanism in which the power of the brakes when applied is automaticallyexerted in direct proportion to the load or weight of the car.

A third and secondary object of my invention is to provide reliablemeans for permitting this automatic regulation of the brakepower by theweight of .the car when the brakes have been previously. set by handwithout danger of derangement of the mech anism.

My invention consists of a pair of brake levers carrying the brake-shoesupon their outer ends and pivotally connected at their 5 inner ends tothe air-brake mechanism, a yield ingly-mounted bolster having a verticaladjustment under the weight of the car, slidable fulcrums for the saidbrake-levers adapted to be actuated by the said bolster, and means for 55 permitting a yielding movementof the bolster when the fulcrums arelocked without deranging the mechanism.

The principal novel features of my invention are the brake-levers, theyielding bolster, the sliding brake-lever fulcrums, and the means foraflfording a vertical play of the bolster under a load without actuatingthe said fulcrums.

Similar reference-numerals indicate like 5 parts throughout the severalviews, in which Figure 1 is a side view of a car-truck of the usual orother proper form, showing my invention in position thereon. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the same with the car-bolster partly broken away andshowing the relative arrangement of the operative parts. Fig. 3 is anend view of Fig. 2 looking from the right with the adjacent axle partlybroken away and the actuating mechanism omitted. Fig. i is an enlargeddetail of the means for permitting a yielding movement of the bolsterunder a superimposed load without actuating the movable fulcrums. Fig. 5is a cross-section of Fig. 2, taken on the line a: m. Fig. 6 is anenlarged detail of one of the adjustable fulcrums, showing itsarrangement relative to the brake-levers and to its connection with theactuating means.

The car-truck upon which my invention is mounted consists of properforward and rear wheels 1 and 2, respectively, rigidly connected bytheaxles 3 and 4, suitable bearings 5 for the ends of the axles, properbrackets or hangers 6 for the ends of the car-bolster and secured to thesaid bearings in any proper manner, and a bolster 7, yieldingly mountedat its opposite ends upon the coil-springs 8 in the usual or otherproper manner. The lower ends of the springs are supported upon the 5bolster base-plate 9, whose opposite ends are rigidly fixed in thehangers 6. To the opposite sides of the hangers 6 are rigidly securedthe opposite ends of the upright standards 10, between which theopposite ends of the bolster 7 are slidably mounted and adapted for alimited vertical adjustment against the tension of the said coiledsprings under the weight of the load thereon.

In approximately parallel arrangement with the bolster base-plate 9 andadjacent to its opposite edges are arranged the brake-levers 11, whoseouter ends are pivotally connected with the rear face of the respectivebrake-shoes 12 of any proper form and pivotally suspended from asuitable hanger 13 by means of a link 14 or other proper means, Fig. 6.These hangers 13 are rigidly fixed to the base-plate 9. The inner endsof each pair of these brakelevers 11 are pivotally connected to theopposite end of a short compensating lever 15, respectively, Fig. 2,whose function will later be described. The means for actuating thesebrake-levers is described as follows: To the lower face of thebase-plate 9 is rigidly secured the rearwardly-extended plate or bar 16,Figs. 2 and 5, on whose rear is fixed a short post 17 on which ispivotally mounted midway of its ends a plate 18, to whose opposite endsare pivotally connected the forwardly-extended rods 19 and 20. Theoperating-rod 21 passes loosely through an opening in the post 17, hasits free end pivotally connected to the forward compensating lever atthe center of its length, and has its free end pivotally connected tothe actuating mechanism. (Not shown.) The rod 19 has its front endpivotally connected to the rear lever 15 midway of its ends, and the rodhas its forward end pivotally connected to the rod 21, approximatelyadjacent to the rear lever 15, as shown.

To the lower face of the bolster 7 and midway of its ends and sides isfixed a pendent post 38, in whose bifurcated lower end is arranged a pin22, on which the slotted upper ends of the companion bell-crank levers23 are arranged. The levers 23 are pivotally mounted on the oppositesides of the upright standard 24, which is fixed in proper relation tosaid levers on the base-plate 9 and have their lower ends pivotallyconnected to the respective adjacent ends of the tubular rods 25, onwhich are arranged the inner ends of the coiled springs 26, Fig. 4. Inthe open outer ends of these tubular rods 25 are mounted by atelescoping connection the inner ends of the respective rods 27, whoseouter ends have a bifurcated head 28, in which is mounted the means forconnecting and actuating the movable fulcrum about to be described. Thismeans consists of a rod 29, having angular looped portions andoutwardly-extended ends 31, having a series of vertical perforations 32therein.

The base-plate 9 hasits ends thickened, as shown in Fig. 6, recessed, asshown at 33, and

provided with the lugs 34 in cooperative relation with the loops 30 forthe purpose about to be described.

The outer ends of the brake-levers 11 are wedge-shaped upon their innerface at that portion adjacent to the brake-shoes and are loosely mountedin a proper casing 35. On the said ends 31 are rigidly fixed thefulcrums 36 by means of a pin 37, which is adapted for a holdingengagement with the perforations 32. Thesefulcrums are identical inconstruction and arrangement and preferably having an angular outer faceadapted for a sliding engagement with the adjacent face of thebrakelevers 11 and within the casing when actuated by thevertically-yielding bolster through the mediumof the said bell-cranklevers and their spring-pressed connections.

The operation of my invention thus described is obvious and brieflystated is as fol-' lows: When power is applied to the operatingrod 21,the brake-levers 11 will all obviously be so actuated as tosimultaneously bring the brake-shoes 12 into engagement with the treadof the respective wheels. Where one of the shoes is worn thin and itscompanion is a new or thicker one, the equalizing-lever 15 will permitthe application of the brakes with equal braking power in an obviousmanner. When a load is applied to the bolster 7, it will evidently bedepressed against the tension of the supporting springs 9 in proportionto the weight of the load, thereby adjusting the fulcrums 36 outwardlythrough the medium of the bell-crank levers 23, rods 25, 27 and 29, andthe coil-spring 26 on the rods 25 and 27, and which spring is ofsuflicient tension to prevent the telescoping of the rods in ordinaryuse. Evidently this outward adjustment of the slidable fulcrums will bein proportion to the load upon the bolster until they reach their outerlimit by the contact of the loops 30 with the lugs 34. Adjusting thefulcrums outwardly not only necessarily proportionately increases thebraking power of the brake-le- ,vers, but ordinarily would require acorrespondingly greater movement of the inner ends of these levers toeffect the application of this increased power; but in my invention Ihave compensated for this increase travel of the brake-levers by makingthe inner face thereof wedge-shaped, as shown.

In case my brakes in use should be set or locked by hand and while inthat condition the car were to be heavily loaded any derangement of thebraking mechanism is avoided by the telescoping of the rods 25 and 27,the weight of the load readily overcoming the resistance of thecoil-spring 26 when the brakes are set and the movable fulcrums locked.

By actuating the four fulcrums of each cartruck from the same point andmidway of the ends of the vertically-yieldable bolster the movements ofall the fulcrums are equalized under an unequally-balanced load or onemore heavily loaded upon one side than upon the other.

It is thus evident that by the use of my invention the employment of theusual brakebeams is obviated, the brakes can be applied with a powerproportional to the load of the car by the adjustable ful-crums, and theactuating mechanism of the fulcrums can be operated to its limit whenthe fulcrums are locked without danger of derangement or injury thereto.

Obviously the various features of construction of my invention can bevariously modified without departing from the generic scope of myinventionas, for example, the plate 16 may be omitted and the plate 18may be supported by a hanger or other proper manner. The form of themovable fulcrums and the specific means for operating-them may beindefinitely-varied.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by LettersPatent is 1. In car-brake mechanism, a plurality of coactingbrake-levers in cooperation with the brake-shoes; movable fulcrums forthe said levers automatically adjustable by the gravity of the car;means for compensating for the movement of the fulcrums; and means foractuating the said levers.

2. Car-brake mechanism consisting of a plurality of pivoted,wedge-shaped brake-levers provided with brake-shoes; movable fulcrumsfor said levers automatically adjustable by the gravity of the car; ayielding bolster adapted to actuate the said fulcrums in proportion tothe gravity of the car; means for compensating for the movement of thefulcrums; and means for actuating the said levers.

3. In car-brake mechanism a plurality of pivoted brake-levers providedwith brakeshoes, and having their outer ends wedgeshaped to equalize thetravel of their inner ends under variations of gravity of the car forthe purpose specified; movable fulcrums for the said leversautomatically adjustable by the gravity of the car; means for actuatingthe fulcrums from the same point and proportional to the weight of thecar; means for'compensating for the movement of the fulcrums; and meansfor actuating the said levers.

4. In car-brake mechanism a plurality of pivoted brake-levers havingtheir outer ends wedge-shaped and provided with brake-shoes; movablefulcrums for the said levers; means for actuating the movable fulcrumsfrom the same point with a power proportional to the weight of the car;means for compensating for the movement of the fulcrums; means foractuating the said levers; and means for compensating in a loaded car,for the locked fulcrums when the brakes had been previously set by hand;and means for actuating the said brake-levers.

- 5. In car-brake mechanism a plurality of wedge-shaped pivotedbrake-levers carrying brake-shoes; longithdinally-adjustable fulcrumsfor the said levers; a vertically-yielding bolster adapted to actuatethe fulcrums with a power proportional to the load; means for actuatingthe said brake-levers; means for equalizing the power exerted upon thesaid 1evers in use; means for enabling the fulcrums to resist theiractuating means; and means for equalizing the movement of the fulcrumsunder an unequally distributed or balanced load.

Signed by me at Fort Wayne, Allen county, State of Indiana, this 2d dayof August, 1904.

JOHN W. PEPPLE.

Witnesses:

WATTS P. DENNY, AUGUSTA VIBERG.

